Reconstructive memory
In 2002, Loftus wrote an article on the case of a Washington DC sniper who killed a number of people. The police asked people to come forward with information on the murderer and many reported having seen a white van in the vicinity of the shootings. In fact, the sniper’s van was a blue Chevrolet Caprice. Loftus tried to find out where the myth of the white van came from. She discovered that a bystander had mentioned...